COMPOSERS: Collection: Nostalgia 77 Sessions
LABELS: Tru Thoughts
PERFORMER: Julie Tippett (vocals), Keith Tippett (piano), Riaan Vosloo (bass), Adam Sorensen (drums), Gary Boyle (guitar), Mark Hanslip (sax), Fulvio Sigurta (trumpet)
CATALOGUE NO: TRUCD 183
It's an exciting time for record label Tru Thoughts. The insatiable outpouring of soulful jazz from the likes of the Quantic Soul Orchestra, New Orleans’s Hot 8 Brass Band, and producer Benedic Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77), is nurturing jazz interest in a clubland crowd.
And Lamdin’s collaboration with the Tippetts (sparked by an interest in their monolithic 50-piece Centipede project from the late ’60s) should appeal to both older fans and new generation alike.
But the Tippetts, determined as ever to never revisit the past, bring their unique spontaneity to the party. Everyone gets a look in, from bassist-to-watch Riaan Vosloo’s diverse riffs to Fulvio Sigurta’s 'Okinawa' trumpet scale musings.
Compositions such as Lamdin’s 'Visions' fit well with Keith’s drifting piano hooks, while elsewhere free improvisation reigns: Keith digs deep in his bag of oddities to accompany Julie’s incantational vocals on ‘Soothing the Rattlesnake’. The result is a timely and accomplished meeting of two musical worlds. Neil McKim